Well, I did have this chapter mostly done when I posted the last one... :P However, as it often does, real life stuff comes around and makes you forget other stuff.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy :)
Note: Thanks to Blaster 2.0 and Fireblade54 for letting me borrow their oc's and reading over the scenes they appear in.
Chapter Eleven - Of Seekers and Wreckers
Cloudbreaker fidgeted in place, his wings flicking.
"Starscream, are we certain we should be returning to Vos? There's not much left to even try to rebuild on the ground..."
"Thundercracker," the older brother chided. "We can't possibly all stay here in Kaon. Some of us must go back to reclaim our home. To show the rest of our mecha that we Vosians cannot be beaten and grounded."
As the pair passed his hiding place, Cloudbreaker held his vents.
Starscream would become very suspicious if he found him skulking around this close to the exit.
As they walked, Starscream carried on talking, however, Thundercracker turned his helm, catching a glimpse of something in the shadowed alcove of a doorway.
His optics met the blue ones of a young mech his age. The optics widened and the mech froze.
Thundercracker gave a small, barely perceptible nod, and kept walking behind Starscream.
He wasn't a snitch. And he could guess why Cloudbreaker was here instead of back with the rest of the seekers.
Once they were out of sight, Cloudbreaker let out a vent of relief.
"That was too close," he thought.
Ducking out of the alcove he'd been pressed in against, the sky-blue and black seeker swiftly carried on his way.
Not too much farther, he was stopped by a clawed hand on his shoulder. Freezing, he turned his helm, half expecting Starscream's smug faceplate staring back at him.
Instead, the uncommonly stern faceplate of a blue and orange seeker met his gaze.
"Cloudbreaker," Tailwind said lowly. "Come with me."
Without waiting for an answer, the mech then turned and headed down a different hallway that intersected the one Cloudbreaker had been traveling.
With one last glance towards the direction of freedom, the young mech followed the other seeker, his helm bowing.
He wasn't sure what the usually cheerful seeker suspected. The mech was usually very easygoing, but since Vos, Tailwind had been unreadable.
The fall of their city had changed a lot of mecha. All knew at least one mecha who had been lost. All had had to adapt.
Cloudbreaker wasn't able to, especially when the remaining 'flock' moved to Kaon.
He had thought it was bad before when they were technically allied with the Decepticons. Now, the seekers were truly ready to join the war. All of them.
Except Cloudbreaker wasn't so sure it had been the Autobots to cause Vos' demise.
And he wouldn't be fighting for the side who had been the true cause.
No matter what. They would have to offline him first. But he didn't want to offline, he'd narrowly escaped death when Vos fell.
Glancing towards Tailwind, Cloudbreaker wondered if the very same mech that had saved him would be the one to offline him.
Under normal circumstances, definitely not. That was not how the Armada and its members operated. There was no honour in that.
But this war had changed things. The young mech was uncertain just how much, and who, had been changed.
He would have guessed that Tailwind and his trine would be one of the more still trustworthy groups.
He wondered if he could get away from Tailwind and still escape. If they got outside, he might be able to out run him in the air.
"If I got a head start," Cloudbreaker thought dismally to himself.
Tailwind was one of the fastest seekers in the Armada. Cloudbreaker was quick too, but not that quick.
He was built more for strength, not so much speed. Tailwind, though a pede shorter than him, could still beat him in a fight though he was a bit smaller and wiry.
Experience would beat strength.
"But I have to try."
Before Cloudbreaker could decide whether to make a move on the older seeker or simply bolt, Tailwind spoke.
"You would have been caught going the other way, you know," came the whisper.
Cloudbreaker's optics widened.
Tailwind glanced over his shoulder at him, a hint of his old characteristic smirk present on his faceplate.
"And we could not have that, could we?"
With that, Tailwind unfolded his servos from behind his back and picked up the pace a bit. Cloudbreaker hustled to catch up, keeping his pedesteps quiet.
"Why are you doing this?" whispered the sky-blue and black.
The dark blue and orange glanced over at him, raising an optic ridge. "Doing what?"
"Helping me."
Another grin. "Am I? I don't see anyone following me to an exit."
Cloudbreaker drifted back to following Tailwind, getting the hint.
If you didn't see someone, there was nothing to report.
"But what about Soundwave? Won't he find out?"
"Soundwave isn't here," replied Tailwind lowly. "And those cameras you've seen? They don't work. Megatron wasn't concerned about the seekers, who are really the only ones living in this building currently. But he had his mecha leave them there as a deterrent in case I suppose."
Cloudbreaker frowned. "That makes sense, I guess. Wait, how do you know all this?"
In front of him, Tailwind shrugged but didn't turn. "Well, my trine leader is still Lieutenant General of the Armada, even if he did strip his own ranks. Mecha still respect him, and Megatron appreciates his advisements."
"I see."
Cloudbreaker had heard that the Lieutenant General had demoted himself, but if Tailwind confirmed it...
"Why did he do it?"
Tailwind let out a sigh, glancing back to meet Cloudbreaker's optics.
"He, being himself, felt that he had failed both the Armada, and the mecha of Vos," the mech said with a sad chuckle. "Which I keep telling him is untrue. There was no way he could've known that was coming. And no way he could have saved everyone."
The young seeker nodded, bowing his helm.
They'd lost so many.
"How- How far did he- "
"Demote himself?" Tailwind offered. "To captain."
Cloudbreaker winced.
From the rank of second-in-command to captain. A whole life's dedication to his city-state. To the mecha in it.
"I'm glad he still has the same respect," Cloudbreaker muttered quietly.
There was a pause before Tailwind answered.
"Me too, youngling."
Before much longer, they reached a doorway that opened up onto their roof.
"Here's my stop," Tailwind said, stopping and turning to face the younger mech. "And your new beginning I suppose."
Cloudbreaker saluted. "Thank you, Sir. For everything."
"I'm going to miss you, youngling," Tailwind replied with a sad grin. "You were one of my favourite younglings to drill way back then. Don't tell any of the rest I said that."
"I won't." Cloudbreaker returned the sad smile. "Take care of yourself."
Tailwind reached out a hand and shook the one that was given. He met Cloudbreaker's optics as his faceplate grew serious.
"You as well. I wish you all the best, Cloudbreaker. Truly I do."
Cloudbreaker nodded and released the other mech's hand, stepping away.
The older mech stayed where he was as he exited the building, standing watch until Cloudbreaker closed the door behind him.
"Primus be with you, Cloudbreaker," Tailwind whispered as he quickly strode away.
Up on the roof, Cloudbreaker took in his surroundings, his feeling of relief quickly turning into dismay. He had spotted the mech standing guard nearby and there was no way that he hadn't heard the door open and close.
Oddly perhaps, the mech hadn't made a move. Not even a wing twitch to show he'd heard or sensed the newcomer.
Cloudbreaker wasn't certain who it was in the dark. Maybe the mech had fallen into recharge on the job or was expecting someone.
"A little late for a stroll is it not?" came the rumbling voice of the mech.
Cloudbreaker hadn't really decided what to do before he spoke, now he really didn't know.
He recognized the voice. It was the voice of one of the fiercest and most-skilled-in-battle seekers they had. A mech who was undoubtedly very loyal and cunning.
Normally, Cloudbreaker wouldn't mind being in this seeker's presence and would feel very safe, but currently, he was the worst possible seeker to come across up here.
"I- Just wanted to get some air, Sir." Cloudbreaker said, fighting to keep his voice from trembling.
"Very well. Why don't you come and join me."
Cloudbreaker's wings fell lower on his back, but he obliged by walking slowly over to the mech.
After all, it had been a request, not a question.
"Sir," said Cloudbreaker upon reaching the black and red mech, who in closer proximity, he could see much better.
"Cloudbreaker," returned the mech, still keeping watch over the offcycle sky above them and the ground below.
They stood in silence for several kliks. In one's opinion, very awkward silence.
Cloudbreaker's wings fidgeted. The other seeker stood perfectly still.
"You wish to leave this offcycle."
"What? Why would I?" Cloudbreaker said quickly. "It's not the nicest here, but it is alright once you get used to it."
Cloudbreaker swore he saw the mech's mouth tick upwards for an astroklik.
"You do not get used to it, Cloudbreaker. And if you do, you should worry. War changes us, but we should not become used to it in that it does not bother us any longer."
Ironshadow looked at him then, his optics holding sorrow in them. "You have great potential and a good spark, Cloudbreaker. But there is nothing for you here. And I have seen that you are unhappy.
"You must leave. Your conscience has prodded you this far, and I encourage you. Leave Kaon."
The black and red seeker then turned back to the empty sky and ground before them.
Cloudbreaker stood there, blinking at him several times.
"Why are you and Tailwind doing this? You could both get caught."
"We could. But we will not," Ironshadow replied calmly, folding his servos behind him.
"How do you know?"
The mech smiled. "Megatron and Soundwave are not here. Starscream is preoccupied with his own ambitions. Tailwind ensured that you were not seen past a certain point in your travels this offcycle."
"And you?" the eighteen-vorn-old questioned, sensing that there was more.
Ironshadow shrugged. "This seeker will merely miss seeing you fly off, the only explanation really. We trained you too well and it just ends up a plus for my reputation as an instructor."
Cloudbreaker gave him an incredulous look. "That's all? Seems a bit too simple, don't you think?"
"Sometimes simple is better."
Cloudbreaker supposed that that made sense, so he said nothing. But he thought of something else.
"You didn't answer my question."
Ironshadow made a humming sound. "No?"
Narrowing his optics, Cloudbreaker stared at the older seeker. "You didn't tell me why you are doing this."
"Ah. I suppose I did not," smirked the older seeker. His faceplate then sobered again. "As a high ranking mecha, it was my duty and privilege to protect my own. I was unable to save many of ours. I can help you however."
He turned in place to fully face Cloudbreaker, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"It is still my duty and privilege to protect my own. And I believe it is for you to desert the Armada and join the Autobots. And I think you know this for yourself.
"The Decepticons' influences on the Armada will one orn be too much. I fear, gradually over time, the Armada will be a shell of what it once stood for. So will we, if we are not careful."
"But what about the rest?" Cloudbreaker asked. "If what you say happens, what will happen to them?"
Ironshadow sighed. "I cannot say, though I feel nothing good will come out of the Armada joining the Decepticons. It already has brought us strife and death.
"But the decision has been made. I cannot decide for each individual of our mecha, but I can for myself. I have made the decision to encourage ones like you to flee before it is too late. That is partially why I stay, Cloudbreaker. But there is no reason for you to."
"I understand," replied the young mech sadly, looking at the ground. "And I hope there's more like me."
The older seeker smiled grimly. "There is. And already was."
Cloudbreaker's helm shot up. "Sonicboom?" he asked hesitantly.
"Yes, your friend was one who left because of similar reasons to your own," Ironshadow said with a sad smile.
"Maybe I'll meet him again then."
"I do hope so. He wished for you to come with him, but feared you were not ready."
"How so?"
Ironshadow gave him a look. "You were then too influenced by our more undesirable effects of society. You had not seen what he had, and therefore still assumed our ways of thinking were correct in regards to others not our kind. Among other things.
"Vos, I believe, has shaken your beliefs and proved things you already were beginning to suspect. You are now ready to leave it behind."
Cloudbreaker hung his helm. "I think you are right. And... Maybe Sonicboom was too."
"He asked me to look out for you when I shooed him off. I told him I had already planned on it."
"Why?" The young seeker twitched his wings. "Surely you had a million other things to look after and take care of."
"I have been watching both of you for many vorns. You and others," Ironshadow replied quietly. "I knew his orn would come. For both of you. I just hoped it would not be too late for you before you realized things for yourselves."
Cloudbreaker nodded, considering Ironshadow's words. "Thank you."
"You best be on your way. I'll be finished my shift soon. If you wish me to turn a blind optic, you had better go quickly."
Wordlessly, Cloudbreaker extended his hand, which Ironshadow took. After they shook, Cloudbreaker saluted, then began walking away.
Several steps forward, he paused and turned around. Ironshadow raised an optic ridge and twitched a wing in question.
"For what it's worth," Cloudbreaker began solemnly. "You are still Lieutenant General Ironshadow to me."
Before the mech could reply, Cloudbreaker turned, ran to the edge of the roof and leaped into the air. He transformed and flew away, heading north.
Ironshadow stood watching, a single tear threatening to fall, his mouth in a firm line.
"Primus be with you, Cloudbreaker. And thank you. May you find what you are looking for."
"They want me to do what?" had been the response Scatterstrike had gotten when he asked Skyshadow about what he and Impactor had discussed.
Accompanied quickly by, "Heck, no. I'd rather offline."
Which was the response that Scatterstrike had sort of expected.
"So, you did get something else from your seeker heritage, Skyshadow," Scatterstrike said with a laugh. "Dramatics."
His words were met with a glare from the petite femmeling. And laughter from Bolt.
The pair had made their way to the firing range and were waiting their turn.
Scatterstrike intended to make use of their spare time while they did.
He turned his helm to look at Bolt. "Impactor extended his invitation to you too, Bolt. What do you think?"
He purposely left out the rest of the story so to keep Bolt from marching off to find Springer.
Bolt tilted his helm, then furrowed his brow, placing his chin in his hand.
"You know," he said slowly. "I've always kinda wanted to be a Wrecker since I heard about them..."
Scatterstrike kept his faceplate neutral even as his spark fell.
He watched as Bolt turned his helm to glance across the range. Both the pilot and Skyshadow followed his gaze.
"Of course," Scatterstrike thought as he spotted Jolt, rifle in hand, sighting in on a target at the far end of the range.
Bolt turned back and grinned up at his superior. "Thanks for telling me about the promotion, Scatterstrike, but I think I'll stay here for now. Besides, from the few I've met, they're super jerks."
Scatterstrike gave him a nod, not saying a word.
Then, two openings came up and the mech in charge of the range that orn beckoned for Bolt and Skyshadow to grab a weapon and come.
The pilot watched them go silently.
"Bolt will never leave his friend. Neither will Jolt. And Skyshadow will never join the Wreckers willingly," he thought as he watched the trio.
Which in his opinion, had both ups and downs.
Bolt and Jolt would never take a promotion or different stationing if the other could not come with. But they were insanely loyal mechlings.
Skyshadow was perceptive and decisive, but Scatterstrike worried that in some cases, she'd be too stubborn to be swayed once she'd made a decision about things or mecha.
Scatterstrike knew, he was getting attached to these younglings.
Cloudbreaker snickered as the noble stomped back to him after checking how close her shots had been.
Being a seeker meant he had a little bit superior opticsight than most ground based mecha. But even without that, he would have guessed that Starfrost's aim was all over the place.
"What are you laughing about?" snapped the young femme when she reached him.
"Did any of them make it to the target? Or just the wall around it?" Cloudbreaker teased good-naturedly.
"Shut it, Seeker." Starfrost gestured towards him. "Let's see you do better."
Cloudbreaker's mouth ticked upwards in a smirk, knowing Starfrost was about to regret her words.
From her expression, it seemed she was already.
Emptying his pistol, he wandered down to the target to check it, leaving her behind.
Crossing her servos over her chest, Starfrost frowned, watching the tall young mech.
She was getting better, but nowhere near Cloudbreaker or Scatterstrike or a lot of the other Autobots' level.
There were of course, civilians like her who'd never really even held a gun before, let alone shot one.
But even some of them had gotten the hang of it and greatly improved. Some of them had been in service for a while now, however, and had had time to improve.
Even all that knowledge didn't help Starfrost feel better.
Most of her life, she'd picked up things quickly and took them to perfection. But this whole being an Autobot soldier thing was throwing her for a loop.
Cloudbreaker returned with a grin on his faceplate.
"Proud of yourself, are you?" Starfrost asked dryly. "Go ahead, rub it in."
"Why, yes I did, miss Towers," he replied with a grin. "And I don't think I will."
"Why not? Just get it over with so I can take my next turn."
"Well, I was going to say something else instead."
Starfrost glanced up at him with narrowed optics. "And what is that?"
Cloudbreaker paused when she met his optics.
"Well?" the teal and silver femme prodded.
"Oh, uh, I was going to say you actually hit the target there," Cloudbreaker quickly said, glancing away. "Almost in the middle actually. You're improving."
Starfrost blinked several times, then looked at the target. It was too far away to see where it had been hit well from where they stood, so she was uncertain which mark he was referring to.
She had seen several near and in the middle though when she had gone to look.
"I had assumed those were all from you," she said slowly, unbelieving she could have hit anything close to the middle of the target.
"The ammunition for your pistol is slightly smaller than mine," Cloudbreaker said with a shrug, reloading his pistol as he spoke. "That one was yours. The hole was a bit smaller."
"Oh," Starfrost said.
She hadn't really thought of that. She hadn't really thought to look too far inside the target really.
"Anyways. You want to go next or should I go again?" Cloudbreaker asked with a flick of his wings.
"I will," replied Starfrost quickly, moving forward to reload her own pistol.
As she was concentrating on that, she missed the smile on the seeker's faceplate as he watched her.
"Well, I can't say I'm particularly disappointed that they didn't take your offer."
Impactor gave his second a look, then went back to cleaning his gun.
"They woulda been good additions and you know it, Springer. You're just sore because you got downed by the little femmeling."
Springer crossed his servos and muttered under his breath. "She got lucky. The other one had me distracted."
"There'll be other eager younglings. Or adults," Impactor said with a smirk, catching the gist of what Springer has said. "We haven't found a short supply of Wrecker wannabes yet."
"You talk to Blades again yet?" Springer asked curiously.
"Yep. He's on his way back. Gonna be a little while yet. The big mech's over by Tagan Heights, where he's from."
"And is Wheeljack meeting us again somewhere soon?"
"Wheeljack?" Impactor laughed. "Are you kidding? He's ready and raring to go, might meet us before we leave here too."
Springer chuckled. "Good. I missed him."
"Said he and Bulkhead hit some 'Cons pretty hard."
"Good for them. Maybe the Decepticons will one orn figure out they can't mess with the Wreckers."
Impactor let out a hearty laugh. "I doubt it, mechling."
Springer had to grin. Then a thought occurred to him.
"That Thundercloud mech that Blades is gone to look for. Think he'll join?"
"I met him way back. If Blades finds him, he'll come," Impactor said with a shrug.
The green mech arched an optic ridge. "The way you say that almost makes it sound like Blades might have to drag him here."
"Well, I doubt it. But if he does, I'm sure Blades will figure it out," chuckled Impactor. "He's forty-pedes tall for goodness' sake."
Scatterstrike suspected some things.
He was about to act on some of them.
Locking himself in his office, he called a certain code. How he had acquired the comm code was classified, not that anyone knew to ask him.
"Hello?" answered the code's owner, a hint of confusion and wariness in the mech's deep voice.
"Lieutenant General," Scatterstrike began neutrally, making sure to keep his voice down. "I assume you are uncertain of my identity and the reason for my call. I have no ill will against you, just some questions."
"I see," the other mech said. "And why should I answer your questions? It seems to me that you are not going to tell me who you are. Why should I indulge you?"
Scatterstrike let out a vent. Here was the slightly tricky part, since he's wasn't completely certain of the accuracy of his suspicions.
And the mech on the other end was already very suspicious. It was, from the tone, somewhat surprising that Scatterstrike was being humoured so to speak.
"Do you by chance have twins, Lieutenant General?"
A few astrokliks passed in silence.
"Excuse me?"
The pilot couldn't help but smirk.
"Sir, I do not know why you are asking this or calling me," the other mech said firmly. "But before this conversation goes any further, who are you?"
Now that was a very thinly veiled demand if Scatterstrike ever heard one. And the tone more or less confirmed his suspicions.
"I believe I am your daughter's squad captain," he said carefully. "But I'd like to confirm it. You have twins? In the Autobot faction?"
Another few astrokliks passed.
"Yes. I do," came the quiet reply. "You have my daughter under your care then? What about my son?"
"Your daughter is with me. I confess, your son is not on the base I am in." Scatterstrike felt bad for the mech, hearing the tone in which the questions were asked.
The seeker missed his younglings.
"I see. Is she well?"
"Mostly," Scatterstrike said, frowning. "That is partially why I'm calling you. She needs to know you still care for her, Lieutenant General. By your words and tone, I can tell that you do. I don't know why specifically you are on the opposite side of the war than your younglings, but that is not really my business. Therefore, I will not ask you.
"However, I do ask you this. Talk to your younglings. They're probably both missing their creators. You're still here. Talk to them."
"Thank you for your advice, Autobot. I shall take it into consideration," the seeker said quietly.
"Good," replied Scatterstrike firmly. "Before I let you get back to your life, one more thing?"
"What is that?"
"Know a young mech by the name of Cloudbreaker?"
"Yes. Is he safe?" came the urgent question.
Scatterstrike's mouth ticked upwards in a smirk.
So, he'd been right about that too.
"As much as a lone seeker who deserted can be. Am I to assume you were the one to encourage him to leave the nest?"
"I confess, I was one of two, yes. I am glad he made it. He... Was not happy here."
There was another pause.
"He's a good mechling. You have him with you as well?"
"He's alright. A bit seekery but he's learning. He is also on my squad, yes."
A light chuckle came from the other end of the comm at the slight. "I suppose being seekery runs in our energon."
The Armada officer paused again, then spoke, a serious tone to his voice. "Thank you for taking care of him. Both of them."
Scatterstrike frowned, knowing he may soon be forced to separate and reassign all five of his squad elsewhere.
"I do my best, Lieutenant General. Though I'm sure you understand the difficulties given the circumstances."
"Of course. But all the same, thank you. And thank you for informing me of their well-being. I unfortunately must end this conversation, before someone walks in on either of us."
"That would be- "
Scatterstrike paused as the comm was cut from the other end.
"Best."
Tailwind paused in his observation of a group of fliers going through drills as he received an internal comm.
The words contained made him want to let out a loud whoop and leap for joy. Outwardly, he merely smiled.
Cloudbreaker was safe and had made it to the Autobots.
"Good mech," Tailwind muttered under his breath.
Meaning both the sender of the message, his best friend and trine leader, and the young mech who'd bravely set out on his own about three vorns ago.
Then he frowned as he returned more of his attention to the flying mecha above him.
"I just hope we don't meet you up there some orn, youngling," he whispered.
"We've already lost way too many."
Quickly, he replied to the internally comm.
"Did you hear anything about the other one too?"
"No, I did not," Ironshadow soon replied.
"Well, we'll just have to keep hoping."
Blades belongs to Blaster 2.0 and Sonicboom to Fireblade54.
Thanks for reading!